Indians dominate ICC Test rankings for batsmen, bowlers

Indian captain Virat Kohli on Friday maintained his dominance by staying unmoved atop the ICC Test player rankings for batsmen. Kohli has 928 points, 17 more than second-placed Australian run-machine Steve Smith.

Kohli’s deputy Ajinkya Rahane moved up a place to eighth with 759 points and rounding off India’s presence in the top 10 was Cheteshwar Pujara who is in at sixth place with 791 points.

With 794 points, pacer Jasprit Bumrah was the top-ranked Indian bowler at sixth place, while Ravichandran Ashwin was placed eighth with Mohammed Shami completing the top-10.

Ravindra Jadeja was in third place in the all-rounder's list with 438 points.

Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews is back among the top 20 batsmen after helping his side to a 10-wicket win against Zimbabwe to take a 1-0 lead in Harare in the two-Test series.

Mathews has advanced eight places to reach the 16th position after his unbeaten 200 – his best ranking was third, achieved in August 2014.

Other Sri Lanka batsmen to progress in the rankings were Kusal Mendis (30th to 26th) and Dhananjaya de Silva (39th to 37th) while Suranga Lakmal (26th to 22nd) and Lahiru Kumara (32nd to 30th), moved up the list for bowlers.

For Zimbabwe, Sikandar Raza advanced seven places and is now ranked 72nd among bowlers.

In the latest rankings, which also includes the Port Elizabeth Test, which England won by an innings and 53 runs to go 2-1 ahead in the four-Test series, England's Ollie Pope, Player of the Match for his unbeaten 135 in Port Elizabeth, moved up 52 slots to 61st place while Sam Curran and Dom Sibley advanced four places each to reach 64th and 76th positions, respectively.

Ben Stokes equalled his career-best second ranking among all-rounders after his knock of 120. He moved back to the spot he had occupied in August last year while he is presently ranked 10th among batsmen and 29th among bowlers.

Off-spinner Dominic Bess's five-wicket haul in the first innings lifted him 49 places to 62nd, while Curran, Jack Leach and Stuart Broad gained one slot each in the bowlers' list.